With a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in India, there were a lot of questions asked about the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021). But positive cases in teams’ bio bubbles proved to be the last straw for BCCI and IPL governing council to indefinitely suspend the league.

One of the positive cases was Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha. Young left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya talked about the virus scare in Royals camp after Saha’s positive report.

“We had just played a game against Sunrisers and after every match, the players usually catch up at the ground. We were hoping not to return positive since we had met a few players from their team,” Sakaria said.

The 22-year-old had a great first season as he dismissed big-hitters KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, and MS Dhoni in his first three games.

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“Initially, I felt the pressure but later on, I handled that. I bowled a few good spells to some great batsmen. That gave me a lot of confidence. I think I bowled better than I thought I would. I have to improve but I am happy with my performance,” he said.

“I never thought I would bowl to them someday. Mahi (Dhoni) bhai’s wicket was my favorite. I was happily shocked. It felt unreal. If you see the video, you will know how shocked I was,” Sakariya added.

The Saurashtra-based pacer then talked about how Jos Buttler helped him in practice games.

“Buttler, though a batsman, told me a lot about bowling in the Powerplay. He would stand beside me when I bowled during the practice games. He told me to stick to the length and not worry about conceding a boundary. It’s just that there should not be a single loose delivery,” the left-arm quick said.

(With The Sportstar inputs)